VATICAN CITY - Administering the sacrament of Confirmation to 44 people, including two teenagers from the United States and two from Ireland, Pope Francis encouraged them to "swim against the tide; it's good for the heart."
A NEW ERA
Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio became Pope Francis on Mar. 13. The Catholic Register was there for the historic event and our special online section has captured all the news and photos from the conclave.
VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis called on the world's priests to bring the healing power of God's grace to everyone in need, to stay close to the marginalized and to be "shepherds living with the smell of the sheep."
MANCHESTER, England - Twenty-one Catholic members of Parliament have written to Pope Francis to ask him to relax the rule on priestly celibacy for Latin-rite priests.
VATICAN CITY - Evils within the church are caused by a self-centeredness and "theological narcissism" that forget to share Christ with people outside of the church, Pope Francis said in the days before his election.
VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis has decided not to move into the papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace, but to live in a suite in the Vatican guesthouse where he has been since the beginning of the conclave that elected him, said Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman.
VATICAN CITY - The Vatican confirmed Pope Francis will lead a full slate of Holy Week and Easter liturgies in Rome and at the Vatican, keeping pace with a usually busy papal schedule.
CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy - With a warm embrace, a helping hand, shared prayer, a long discussion and lunch together, Pope Francis spent several hours with retired Pope Benedict XVI March 23 at the papal summer villa.
Following the path of remarkable Francis’ of the past
The world was both surprised by, and speculated on, the new Pope’s choice of the name Francis. The initial reaction was that it signified his devotion to St. Francis of Assisi, renowned for his practice of the virtue of poverty and a life of simplicity. (That turned out to be correct.) But others suggested that it reflected the Pope’s formation as a Jesuit, well aware of the evangelizing efforts of that great Jesuit co-founder, St. Francis Xavier who died in 1552.
VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis has decided to celebrate the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord's Supper in a Rome juvenile detention facility and wash the feet of some of the young detainees.
VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis said he plans renewed cooperation to further Catholic-Jewish relations and hopes to contribute to a world where all people live in harmony with the "will of the creator."
VATICAN CITY - For the good of all people, the care of the poor and the future of the Earth, religions must cooperate in reminding modern men and women that God exists and has a plan for their lives and their behavior, Pope Francis said.
Changes in style send clear message from Pope Francis
VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis had been pope for less than six days when he was formally installed March 19, but he had already made a distinctive and overwhelmingly favorable impression on the world.
Let us be "protectors of Creation, says Pope Francis
Following is the complete text of the homily that Pope Francis gave during the Mass inaugurating his Petrine ministry on March 19.
VATICAN CITY - Although attempts were made to simplify the ceremony, Pope Francis officially inaugurated his ministry as Pope and bishop of Rome in a liturgy filled with biblical symbolism and signs of the universality of his mission.